Viewtopia 05/12/09: The Week in DVD Releases

Viewtopia is PM's newest weekly feature that looks at the hottest DVD releases for Digital Hollywood geeks. This week, we have a big treat for Trekkies, heart-pounding action and fright flicks, as well as the latest installment of our favorite foul-mouthed magicians Penn & Teller's award-winning reality series.

To coincide with the release of J.J. Abrams's new Star Trek film, Paramount Home Entertainment has put together a seven-disc box set containing the theatrical versions of the six original Trek films, available for the first time on Blu-ray, as well as a bonus disc featuring Star Trek: The Captain's Summit, a 70-minute round-table discussion with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes and host Whoopi Goldberg, filmed exclusively for this set. However, the crown jewel in this collection has to be Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which is the only film in this collection to have undergone a full digital restoration, similar to what Paramount did for the Godfather trilogy. Of all the Trek films, "Khan" has proven the most enduring and the one remembered by Trekkie's and non-Trekkies alike (see Robot Chicken's "Le Wrath di Khan," below for proof), and this new HD transfer is like seeing it again for the first time. All of these films are presented in their original anamorphic widescreen aspect ratios with 7.1-channel Dolby TrueHD sound.

Taken Two-Disc Extended Edition (2009)

It's been awhile since French auteur Luc Besson has stepped behind the camera, but he's kept himself busy writing and producing more than a dozen inventive action flicks. Taken, directed by frequent Besson collaborator, Pierre Morel, is a welcome respite from his more recent style-over-substance films like The Transporter or Taxi series and hearkens back to the violent, emotional storytelling found in his earlier films, La Femme Nikita and The Professional. Liam Neeson stars as a former CIA operative who must rescue his teen daughter when she's kidnapped while abroad in Paris. Fox Home Entertainment's Two-Disc Extended Edition includes both the original, international cut of the film, as well as the edited U.S. theatrical release, presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen with English, French and Spanish 5.1-channel Dolby digital surround sound with optional English, French and Spanish subtitles.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)

Special-effects wizard Patrick Tatopoulos takes the reins of the third installment in the Underworld series, directing the very creatures he helped to create. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is a prequel which delves into the films' mythology and reveals the origin of the centuries-old war between vampire and werewolf. The medieval setting means that the original's Matrix-style shootouts and Kate Beckinsale in PVC are out, and hack-and-slash swordplay and leather-clad Rhona Mitra are in. Veteran character actors Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy reprise their Underworld roles as Lucian, the first lycanthrope, and elder vampire Viktor, respectively. Before the blood feud began, Viktor discovers the young Lucian and, realizing that this new race can be used to breed powerful slaves for the vampires, spares his life. Viktor's daughter Sonja falls in love with Lucian and the fallout from thei forbidden union sets in motion the events that lead to the Lycans uprising. The film is presented in its original 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio with English, French, Spanish and Thai 5.1-channel Dolby digital surround sound.

Penn and Teller: B.S.! The Complete Sixth Season 2-Disc Set (2008)

Muck-raking magicians Penn and Teller return for a sixth season of their Emmy-award winning Showtime reality series, Penn & Teller: B.S.!. For over 30 years, the comedic duo have made a name for themselves by revealing some of magic's biggest secrets. Just as their live performance takes a scientific approach to the inner workings of magic, so too do they train their professional brand of skepticism on many of our society's sacred cows, including alternative medicine, animal rights, the Bible and gun control. As part of their sixth season, Penn and Teller discuss the viability of NASA's COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services) program and the green movement's embrace of carbon offsets. The series is presented in its original 1.33:1 full-screen aspect ratio with 5.1-channel Dolby digital surround sound.

The Episodes

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%" valign="top" style="padding:2px;">Disc 1

1: The War on Porn

2: New Age Medicine

3: NASA

4: Dolphins

5: Sleep, Inc.
%" valign="top" style="padding:2px;">Disc 2

6: Being Green

7: Sensitivity Training

8: Stranger Danger

9: World Peace

10: The Good Ol' Days

Plague Town (2008)

Horror director David Gregory may not be a household name yet, but with over 90 film credits to his name you're bound to have seen some of his work. Plague Town may be Gregory's directorial debut, but for the past 10 years he's been making documentaries on some of the greatest horror and exploitation movies and directors of the '60s, '70s and '80s, including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Suspiria, The Evil Dead and more, for his distribution companies Blue Underground and Severin Films. Vacations abroad have always been ripe fodder for fright flicks (see Taken above), and when a crass American family are stranded in the backwoods of Ireland, there is bound to be trouble. As night descends and roving packs of murderous munchkins take to the streets, the family must band together in the interest of self-preservation. Shot on Super-16 film, Plague Town is presented in it's original 1.78:1 widescreen anamorphic aspect ratio with 5.1-channel Dolby digital surround sound.